Atlanta Fiber System Experiment: Overview

Copyright © 1978 American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Printed in U.S.A. Atlanta Fiber System Experiment: Overview By IRA JACOBS (Manuscript received December 29, 1977) A complete 44.7-Mb/s lightwave digital transmission system was evaluated at the joint Western Electric and Bell Laboratories facility in Atlanta in 1976. An overview is provided to the papers describing the technology employed and some of the principal results of the experimental evaluation. Two interrelated themes are emphasized: (i) the importance of careful measurement and characterization, and (ii) the need for parameter control. Roth the Atlanta Experiment and the follow-on Chicago installation have given confidence in the feasibility of lightwave technology to meet Bell System transmission needs. On January 13,1976 the Atlanta Fiber System Experiment was turned up, and 44.7 Mb/s signals were successfully transmitted over the entire system. The following papers in this issue describe the technology employed and some of the principal results of this experiment. Although there have been a number of conferences 1 - 6 and prior publications 7 - 1 0 in which some aspects of this experiment have been discussed, the present papers provide the first comprehensive report. The purposes of the Atlanta Fiber System Experiment were: (i) To evaluate lightwave technology in an environment approximating field conditions. (ii) To provide a focus for the exploratory development efforts on fiber, cable, splicing and connectors, optical sources and detectors, and system electronics.